Closure control device



April 8, 1952 c. w. GRAY CLOSURE CONTROL DEVICE 2 SHEETS-SHEET l w Em Filed Dec. 16, 1949 .5 Q 5% BBQ Inventor C/aua' W. Gray April 8, 1952 c. w. GRAY 2,592,137

CLOSURE CONTROL DEVICE Filed Dec. 16, 1949 2 SHEETSSHEET 2 Fig.3.

. Fig.4.

l A Thermostat Cloud W. Gray In uentor Patented Apr. 8, 1952 UNITED STAT ES PATENT OFFICE 2,592,137 CLOSURE GONTRQL DEVICE Claud'W; Gray; El Paso, Tex.

ApplicatiorrDe'cember 16, 1949, Serial No. 133,263

2' Claims.

This inventionrela-tes to novel and useful improvements in: closure. devices for windows, doors or" any other type' of closure: normally adapted to open: and closean opening, as inabuilding.

An object: of" this. invention. is to; regulate the rate of; closing of a window; door or. the like in response to a predetermined adjustment of a valve-in apassage. whichconnects a pair: of tubes, one of thepassages having a valve in a piston, the piston: being. operable in. said one of said tubes and connected. with the closure so that. whenth e closure" isnormally moved to the closed position, as. by gravity,. the piston is moved to push the. fluid. in: the pair of tubes through the controllable.v cross sectional. area passage. By this expedient the resistance: to flow through the duct formed orifice isemployed' for: regulating: the rate of travel: of." the piston: inthe. tube and hence the rate of closing of the. closure, whether it is a door or window.

Another purpose of this invention is to lock this closure in the closed position and retain it locked until such time that it is desired. to open the same. This is accomplished. by an electrical system or device, as a solenoid. plunger which is operable in an opening in the Window or door and which is controlled by a variety of means, for example a thermostat appropriately arranged ina circuit a switch conveniently located at" the bedside of a: person, or a master. control switch conveniently locatedwith respect to a hotel clerk, engineer or other person having certain duties and jurisdictions over building'c'ar-e,management.

or. maintenance.

Ancillary objects and features will become apparent in following the description of the illustrated form of the invention.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is an elevational view of a typical closure, a" window in this instance, with portions broken away to show the various parts forming the inyention applied;

Figure 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the device shown in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of one part of the structure forming the illustrated embodiment of the invention;

Figure 4 is a sectional view taken substantially on the line 4-4 of Figure 3 and in the direction of the arrows, and;

Figure 5 is a typical wiring diagram showing how the solenoid type lock may be operated and connected.

The field of utility of the present invention is very large. Accordingly, certain domestic uses of the structure. are. set forthatthistime- How'- ever. it is: understoodthat: the. structure of. the

illustrated embodiments of the-invention may be. employed. in; whatever environment found. desiraable either bya-manufacturer or: purchaser.

window has theusua'l-sash cord. I 4 secured. there.-

to at one end andlpassedi over a guide pulley L6. which is carried by the: jamb; The elongated member: or sash cord- [4 has its: opposite end. secured to an eye. Hi (FigureB) in aspider 211 which. restricts themovement of. a.val ve.2 l.- therein- The. function of. the valve- 2 I is to close. the: passage way 23 which. extends) longitudinally through. a piston. 22. The function, above.- mentioned, accomplished. by thedisposition-of the valve 2| on theupwardly facingrval'veseatdiat the upper end ofthe passageway 23. The spider 2 0 is fixed; to and forms a part of the piston 22 which is operable in a tube 24. The. tube24-isconnected' at its. upper end. by means of a passage 25. with. another-tube 28. These tubes are connected: at their lower ends by means. ofa. passagewayor passage 30. which is formed in apartition. 32-. The passage forms a control orifice when taken in conjunction with the valve generally indicated at 34.

The valve includes a. head 36 and a stem 38. A passage 40 is provided longitudinally in the stem and has an outlet 42 connected therewith and disposed in one of the tubes. A spring loaded ball check valve 44 is operable in an enlargement in the passage to allow fluid to be introduced into the tube 28 and to prevent fluid from returning from said tube 28.

The valve stem has a threaded shank portion 48 which is operable in the threaded boss 50 carried by a nipple 54. This nipple is integrally con nected with the tube 28 and has packing 56 therein and held in place by the plate 58. The packing presses tightly against the stem 38 in order to render the threaded connection between the stem and the boss 50 substantially fluid tight.

There is an internally threaded bore which ,5 forms a part of the passage 40 at the outer end thereof. A screw 60 is detachably disposed in the threaded bore and maintains a hand wheel 62 in place thereon so that the stem may be rotated. This rotation results in adjustment of the valve head 36 in the passage 30 in order to regulate the effective cross sectional area of the passage 30.

When it is desired to service the tubes 24 and 28, the screw 60 is removed and a device for applying liquid under pressure into the tube is inserted in the passage 40 adjacent the portion which is termed the bore. Fluid is introduced under pressure so as to fill the tube the desired amount.

Inasmuch as the stem 38 projects through an opening in the jamb l2 and the hand operator 62 is exterior of the jamb, the tubes may be serviced from the exterior of the jamb..

Reference is now made to Figure 1. An opening is supplied in the closure l0 adjacent the top part thereof. This closure accommodates the pin 12 which may be in essence, the core of a solenoid 14. The solenoid is suitably carried within the jamb l2 and is energized from a suitable source. Appropriate wiring is illustrated in order to energize the solenoid'at will. A switch 16 is used to control the solenoid adjacent the window and is conveniently located in the jamb or adjacent the jamb, as found expedient and desirable. Another switch 18 is employed in the circuit and is used to control the solenoid 14 from the bedside or a convenient location thereadjacent. This switch may be used in connection with a length of electrical conductor cord so as to make it movable from one location to another. A master control switch 80 for the system is supplied remote from the closure In and is adapted tobe operated by anyone having the authority to unlock the windows.

There is an opening 82 at the bottom part of the closure In which also accommodates the locking pin 12 so as to retain the window in the raised position. Any number of openings may be employed whereby the window may be held in selected, adjusted positions. The switch controls. previously described, are used for the purpose of unlatching the window or door or other closure not only when it is in the fully closed position but when it is raised to any intermediate position up to the maximum.

Reference is now made to Figure 5. Here the closure 84 is a fire door. It may be of the type which is operable on an inclined plane in order to have it gravity actuated to the closed position. The solenoid 86 is identical to the solenoid 14 plied in the wiring in order to give a manual control for the same solenoid.

As previously discussed, any type of door may be used. Any type of window may also be used. Moreover, a series of any practical number of such doors or windows may be arranged by substantially duplicating the structures illustrated in Figures 1 and 5 any number of times.

Having described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

1. In a closure system which includes at least one closure, an attachment to regulate the rate of closing of the closure comprising a pair of fluid tubes with a passage connecting the tubes. an elongated member secured at one end to the closure, a piston operable in one of the tubes and having the opposite end of said member secured thereto, a check valve in said piston, a control valve in said passage to regulate the efiective cross sectional area of said passage, means forming an inlet in said control valve to charge said tubes with fluid, the closure having a jamb therearound, and said means forming a fluid inlet being passed through an opening in said Jamb to the exterior thereof so that said tubes may be serviced from the exterior of the jamb.

2. The combination of claim 1, and said control valve having a stem, and said means forming an inlet in said control valve comprising a longitudinal passageway extending through said stem, and means to releasably close the outer end of said passageway.

' CLAU'D W. GRAY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

